Iranian advocates of democracy have taken to the streets
regularly since the fraudulent re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
promoting a green revolution against the heavy-handed, repressive theocracy
that rules the country. But theres another wave of protests that, if linked to
the green movement, could greatly strengthen the opposition and give it a more
pronounced social-democratic character.

Late last week, for
example, workers from the Shiraz Iran Telecommunications Industries blocked
highways and sat in the provincial governors mansion for three days to protest
13 months of unpaid wages. A few weeks earlier, workers at the Mobarake steel
complex in Isfahan staged hunger strikes on two days over pay and pension
cuts.

Protests like these are
common in Iran and likely to increase dramatically in coming months, according
to Homayoun Pourzad, a representative of the Network of Iranian Labor Unions who
has been trying to build support for Iranian workers in the U.S.

But when asked if the
Iranian labor movement is strong, he answers, Yes and no.

There are only a few
formal, public unions in Iran, most notably the teachers union, a sugar workers
union, and the Tehran bus drivers union, whose leader, Mansour Osanloo, has
been in jail for more than two years. Irans first unions emerged a century ago
and exercised some influence until the CIA-assisted overthrow in 1954 of the
democratically elected, nationalist government, Pourzad says.

But unions were almost
completely suppressed after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and only began
re-organizing about seven years ago, after the Iranian government signed an
agreement with the International Labor Organization to permit workers to
organize.

Yet even if unions are
weak, Pourzad says, there are workers struggles that go on all over the
country constantly, every minute. Conditions for workersroughly three-fourths
of whom work on short-term contractsare quite bad, buffered only by the
government loans to keep factories and other workplaces operating, often at half
capacity. But recently the government decided to reduce the loans, which will
likely eliminate jobs and depress wages more.

Because of this
economic crisis, theres going to be an upsurge of labor activity in general,
Pourzad predicts. Were going to see spontaneous manifestations and bursts of
energy from the labor movement this year.

I had always believed
in the labor movement, he says. I had friends and relatives who were
sympathetic to the labor movement, in particular one older individual, a mentor
for myself, who was involved in pre-1953 labor activities. I just instinctively
and intellectually believe that was the way to go for myself and the best
possible solution for the countrys problems.

Only a few labor union
activists are public; the rest are more anonymous in their work. There are
many, many individual campaigns going onpeople doing educational and
organizational work, he says. Theyre not admitting what theyre doing.
Government monitoring of worker activity is unbelievable.

The futures of reform
politics and unions are intimately linked, but green leaders dont want to be
seen as fomenting labor unrest, Pourzad says, even if many support union rights
and social democratic policies. The Iranian working class does not support
Ahmadinejad, even though the president makes populist appeals to marginal
classes, the lower middle-class, shopkeepers, low-paid government workers and
people in small towns.

Increasingly, Pourzad
says, We have two Irans, and a clash between tradition and modernization. But
secular progressives have to reach out to the religious, traditionalist
Iranians.

First, most workers are
deeply religious, he says. Second, the traditionalist forcesfrom the army and
Revolutionary Guard (a scary crowd) to the basiji thugs and other
proto-fascists in the streetare well-armed.

We cant have these
guys as permanent enemies, Pourzad says. We have to come up with ways of
accommodation, like a Truth Commission. The labor movement, he argues, can
play a vital role in diminishing the appeal of extremes of right or
left.

On the ground events and
relationships in Iran seem "kaleidoscopic," he says, but its the beginning of a
major change. I dont think anyone in the world thinks the opposition is coming
to power soon, he says. Its just the beginning of the arc. But every day
things are going on all around you. It looks like a
revolution."